TORRANCE TRIBUNE August 31, 2017 Page 5
Ingredients
Same great location
OPEN LABOR DAY
1 block from Rec Park
FREE REGULAR SUB
with Purchase of Sub of Equal or
Greater Value & Regular Drink
1 coupon per visit per customer
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 limes (optional)
Politically Speaking
One Man’s Opinion Another Man’s Opinion
President Trump’s Pardon of
Sheriff Arpaio Is No Surprise
By Cristian Vasquez
The news that President Trump officially
pardoned celebrity Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio
shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. However
it should serve as a reminder that when
people in power misbehave, the punishments
are rarely ever equal to those imposed on
average citizens. Arpaio’s conviction, which
stemmed out of a 10-year-old lawsuit claiming
that the sheriff’s office was in violation of the
rights of Latinos, was at best a slap on the
wrist. The 85-year-old sheriff was vulnerable
to a maximum jail sentence of six months,
and the president pretty much prevented him
the hassle of further court proceedings. While
this pardon is a moral victory of sorts for the
president’s supporters, in reality it’s a reminder
that criminal behavior is not guaranteed to end
in reprimand when in a position of power.
Whether you like the sheriff or not, the fact
remains that he gave his department a green
light to racially profile people in Arizona
solely on the suspicion of their legal status
in the country. Yes, there is an obligation to
deport immigrants in the country without the
legal documents--but that does not mean that
I, an American citizen of Latino heritage,
should be harassed by local law enforcement
because Arpaio wants to be a modern-day
hero. Nothing gives Arpaio the right to stop
me if I haven’t committed a crime. Still, this
new-age cowboy felt he was above the law
and harassed American citizens like myself
under the guise of law and order. Ironically,
the often-used argument by conservatives that
“if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you have
nothing to worry about,” didn’t really apply
in the jurisdiction of this disgraced sheriff.
Yet, he seems to be a fan favorite among
Trump supporters.
Even when a federal district judge ordered
Arpaio to stop detaining people simply on the
suspicion of their immigration status…even
if there was no evidence that a law had been
broken, he persisted. Why? Because enough
people were in such reverence of his antics
that he kept up the show. Did he really make
Arizona safer? Doubt it, but I’m sure there are
plenty in his fan base who are convinced he
did. It’s sad that a country that prides itself
on law and order, due process and having
the ability to check a leader’s power has so
many people falling over themselves for this
sad, delusional man. Let’s not forget that
this is the same person who took pride in
putting prisoners inside tents, out in a desert
that can reach up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
during the day. I know…that’ll teach them,
right? Maybe it’s worth the money the state
saves on facilities to expose human lives to
life-threatening heat.
This washed-up lawman has been nothing
more than a sad display of power. Arpaio
relied on showboating and fear tactics to gain
support among Arizona’s voters. His policies
led to the harassment of American citizens
with brown skin and Spanish surnames and
when the courts slapped him on the wrist, his
president pal came through to spare him that
reprimand. It’s not surprising that Arpaio was
pardoned, but it is disgusting that his criminal
behavior continues to be justified. •
Must Be Trump’s Fault About
Hurricane Harvey and the Devastation
in Texas, Right? Or Left?
By Duane Plank
So as those unfortunate folks in the Texas
state were being pummeled by Hurricane
Harvey, this scribe was watching and feeling
empathy for the folks caught in the eye of this
devastating whirlwind. And… figuring there
was no way that the lefties would somehow
blame President Donald Trump for this.
Even a skow like Rachel Maddow is supposedly
smart enough to realize that the Donald
doesn’t control the weather, right? Not sure
what the lefty commentator spoke of this week.
Had to file this tome on Sunday evening.
But minutes into the hurricane fray, the libs
on CNN started bloviating about how could
Trump have had his minions announce on
Friday night the canning of one of his advisors
nobody knew of--some Russian-sounding
dude, Gorko…and strengthening the rules about
transgenders in the military, and the pardoning
of some yahoo law official in Arizona.
Back in the day, dropping White House news
items on a Friday evening when we only had Walter
Cronkite to trust (“And that’s the way it is…”)
was a way for the administration to dispose
of press releases when no one was paying attention
during the weekend--because the political scribes
were out-and-about, getting hammered, hoping
to slog into work on Monday morning. I think
nowadays it is called the “Friday Night Dump.”
On the great, great show back in the day, West
Wing, it was termed, “Taking Out the Trash.”
Well, at press time, which for me is Sunday
evening, Texas Governor Abbott gave the Trump
administration an A+ for the work that had
been done to prepare for all the devastation
that was going to consume certain portions of
the great state of Texas. Trump and company
were prepared to declare Texas a disaster zone
prior to the devastation that was soon to hit the
Lone Star State. Lessons were learned, apparently,
after the bureaucratic bumbling, red-tape
scrambling, and Bolshoi de jour that plagued
the Bush administration back in 2005 when
the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina slammed into
the city known as the “Big Easy.”
President Bush was apparently nodding off
at the time, vacationing, having no clue apparently
about what was happening to one of the
50 states under his watch. The response from
Bush and his well-paid government vacationers
was tardy and pathetic, and helped result in
the deaths of, according to published reports,
more than 1,000 people in Louisiana.
So Trump, and to be fair, his weather gurus,
prepared for this cataclysmic inundation
of parts of Texas when all the while he was
wandering around at Camp David. Not sure if
there is a golf course there. Quick aside, but it
does appear like Mr. Trump has an aversion to
spending weekends at the White House. Have
Melania and the younger Trumpie even moved
into their taxpayer-subsidized digs on Pennsylvania
Avenue? Guess the Trumps wouldn’t be
the first married folks who occasionally like
to keep their distance, eh?
Trump, with all his imperfections, won
this week. •
Watermelon
and Lime Pops
• 3 cups seedless watermelon
• 1/3 cup lime juice
Preparation
co-partners with
130 E. Grand Ave., El Segundo
310-640-6149
Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor. Blend until liquid. Pour mixture
into molds. Freeze overnight. Optional: If you don’t have molds, pour mixture
into paper cups. Place slices of lime at the top of cups to hold sticks in place.